Capital at the Crossroads: Bold Leadership for Canada’s Future
Monday, October 27, 2025
10-11AM PST • 1-2PM EST • 2-3PM AST
Ray Williams
Co-founder & Chair,
Black Opportunity Fund
Narinder Dhami
Founder,
New Power Labs
Canada is at a crossroads.
On one hand, overlooked leaders and communities are building solutions that strengthen industries and local economies. On the other, they continue to face entrenched barriers to capital, at a moment when principles of equity, diversity, and inclusion are facing growing backlash.
Capital deployers face a choice: stepping back in response to growing resistance, or doubling down on unlocking the talent and ideas that drive resilience and growth.
Retreating means missed opportunities for competitiveness and prosperity. Moving forward requires courage, conviction, and smarter collaboration.
In this New Power Talk, our Founder Narinder Dhami sits down with Ray Williams, Chair and Co-Founder of the Black Opportunity Fund, to unpack what’s at stake and what bold leadership looks like in this moment.
About the speakers
Ray Williams, Co-founder & Chair, Black Opportunity Fund
Ray Williams is the retired former vice-chair of financial markets at National Bank Financial who is currently a board member of CMHC. He received an honorary Doctorate of Laws from Toronto Metropolitan University (TMU) this spring. This esteemed acknowledgment celebrates Ray’s outstanding career of exceptional leadership and excellence. He is also a seasoned financial services executive with more than 35 years of experience in global capital markets, and was responsible for facilitating engagements with strategic accounts, and working to promote the bank’s One Mission client-centric approach. He also represented the bank in several sustainable finance forums and transition initiatives and was a key contributor to the bank’s affordable housing commitments.
Ray has extensive experience in cash and derivatives products in multiple asset classes, infrastructure financing, provincial and federal liability management, and mortgage finance companies.
Mr. Williams is deeply committed to community engagement, particularly in diversity and inclusion efforts. He serves on several leadership boards including the 100 Strong Foundation. He is also executive-in-residence at the Rotman School of Management and on the board of the George Brown College Foundation, as well as Toronto Global. He is the past and founding president and a continuing member of the Canadian Association of Urban Financial Professionals, the professional trade organization for minorities in the financial services industry.
Narinder Dhami, Founder, New Power Labs
Narinder is an award-winning innovator, Canada’s Top 40 Under 40 and a BMW Foundation Responsible Leader. Her work spans across sectors and silos, she brings depth and rigour to drive social impact in North America and the Global South. She is the President of the Sonor Foundation, Founder of New Power Lab and a gender lens investor. Over the last decade, she built, designed and scaled social ventures including: in partnership with the Boston Consulting Group (BCG) she led a venture philanthropy fund, LEAP | Pecaut Centre for Social Impact, and alongside Sandra and Joseph Rotman at the University of Toronto, Narinder was the founding Executive Director of Rise, a microfund for entrepreneurs with mental health and addiction challenges. In the Global South, she worked in microfinance across Burkina Faso, Cote d’Ivoire, Mali at La Première Agence de Microfinance (PAMF) and in impact investing in Ghana & Nigeria with Acumen. She is a lecturer at Toronto Metropolitan University and the University of Toronto. Narinder serves on multiple boards including the Community Foundations of Canada, Venture for Canada, The Circle, and CAFIID and is an investor in social ventures across Canada.